A bone dry post. No, really.

So... what was planned for yesterday was a fail.
I better make up for it!

My morning was spent spraying, spraying, and spraying some more. And I went through 4 glue sticks as well. Not bad for a job done before breakfast, right?

Let me show you what I was up to.

These two dudes and their identical twins were ruthlessly butchered for the sake of Hallowe'en:

Yeah, yeah, I know. I felt a bit guilty, too. But not for long.

They got re- assembled into this:

Chrome spray and a little battery- operated chain of spider fairy lights. Say it with me. Spider fairy lights.

I meant for it to be an outdoor wreath, but then I remembered the purple glitter spray I got for 99p the other day and inspiration viciously assaulted me.

Are you familiar with advent wreathes? Basically, they are wreathes made from evergreens, decorated with 4 candles. In the 4 weeks before Christmas, one candle gets lit every Sunday, and once all candles are used, Santa is on the doorstep!

As a kid, I LOVED those wreathes, and ever since I was old enough I was allowed to light the candles on Sundays. Aaaah... sweet memories.

Now, let me wreck this sweet mental image for you.

I took some hoarded kitchen towel rolls and toilet paper rolls and let hot glue run down from the top. (spooky wax effect!) All rolls got a nice coat of black spray paint and, once dry, a big helping of purple glitter spray afterwards.

The shorter rolls were treated to clear lacquer as a finishing touch, the larger ones left to look a bit dusty and tattered.

The rolls are stuffed with newspaper, and they will receive a flameless tealight each (sprayed black) when it's time to display the whole thing.

What do you think, did Skelli And Mr Mummy die in vain?

He looks happy enough- in fact he doesn't seem to give a rats' @rse (pun intended)!

So, there you go, I bet you have never seen a Hallowe'en Advent Wreath before. Don't say I don't broaden your minds!

For now, my, erm, candle rolls grace the mantelpiece, awaiting their flameless candles. And I must say that they look better than in the photos- the glitter really shines, and in what is now almost dusk around here, they seem almost real. Yeah, happy with that.

So, shopping list top two items: rechargeable batteries for the spideys and flameless candles. Way more important than washing up- liquid and eggs, don't you agree?

What's so funny?

Dude, what's so funny?

Seriously, what are you grinning at?

Anything hilarious about costing 50p, having a bath in glitter and thus saving me a fortune on this

No. I thought so. 

My Hallowe'en mantel is starting to come together!

(don't you guys start laughing now, it's only the first few bits!)

Oh, okay, yeah. Whatever. It's alright, stop holding it in... fill your boots and let it all out >.<

All done? Why, thank you, guys! *sigh*

I know, it looks very thrown- together and half- hearted right now, but good things come to those who wait!

There's a lot more crafting lined up, and for the moment the devil, quite literally, is in the details. The book pages come from a book on murder mysteries in West Yorkshire and describe rather gruesome scenes that took place in and around my fair home town, and those little bottles contain critters that are not really visible in the pictures. 

You can already tell that the theme is black and white (I get to use a lot from the last craft- off AND will hopefully achieve something reminiscent of my hero Tim Burton in the end, what's not to love?), and a few bits of colour will turn up here and there eventually. 

Sorry for mucking about with the photos so much, I had way too much fun on PicMonkey again :D

See you later, guys- I am hopeful to do something shiny tomorrow, but that depends on wether I get to go and do some shopping or wait around for a second day for a plumber who, I swear, does not exist... or rides around on his black horse and can't find my house because his head is a freaking pumpkin...

Arachno... philia?

Oh my.. guys, I am starting to think my arachnophobia is kind of easing off a little.

In regards to plastic spiders.

And jewelled spiders.

And felt spiders.

Real spiders? Erm... maybe this one.

But only because it looks like a jewel and is kind of cute when you don't remember that it's and eight- legged freak bound to crawl into your mouth when you sleep, live in your brain and feed off your memories. They totally do that.

Anyway, let's not digress and go down to glitzy business, shall we?

Sunny set the bar very, very high today. In fact, I think she'll be hard- pressed to outdo herself any time soon. you MUST go and see what she did to hack these:

Hand on heart, you will be stunned.

My project today has a lot more legs and less vitamins.

I was inspired by this ring:

(in fact, that's the hack Gail came up with- I prefer it over the original, so go and check out her mad skills!)

But unfortunately, large rings tend to irritate me after, like, 5 seconds. So, this beauty was not an option. But I still wanted spider bling, so I dug deep into my stash and found this stuff:

Plastic spider, glitter, model paint in fortress grey (when orc grey just isn't good enough... we all get those days sometimes, right?) and a bracelet blank I had somewhere in my jewellery box for no obvious reason.

Feeling flat? are your days dull and grey? Worry you not. Enter the glitter:

I would have taken pictures of me wearing it, but my hands are so covered in cat scratches (damn you, ticklish kitten!) that it looks like I wrestled some brambles and the brambles won. Ah, well. And since the flash on my camera is still broken, these pictures are the best I could come up with in terms of ambient lighting :D

It actually looks kinda cool and really sparkly, and unlike quite a few of my other creations, I dig this enough to wear this in public.

Best thing is- when Hallowe'en is over, I can take spidey off the bracelet very easily, because the bugger is tied to it with nigh invisible jewellery- making thread. Now- who's a clever girl??